The next couple of months went by in a flash. They had celebrated Christmas Eve at the loft with Ben, Randy, Stephanie, Shay and Melissa. New Year's Eve had been the entire house 51 at Molly's and had turned out to be an amazing evening. And Randy had asked Stephanie to marry him, which of course she accepted right away! Emily was more than thrilled and happy for her brother. They were planning on getting married by the end of the summer and Stephanie had asked Emily to be her maid of honor.

January zipped on by with everyone being as busy as ever. Kelly, Randy and the rest of the guys were out on back to back interventions and for Emily, things weren't any quieter at the hospital. She had even found herself sleeping in the hospital on nights where Kelly was on shift.

When February rolled by, Emily was impatient, she had always loved Valentine's day and wanted to plan something special for Kelly and her. She booked them a night in one of Chicago's most romantic hotels, but when Kelly was sent on an instructor's training in Texas for three days, Valentine's day included, she found herself giving Leslie and Melissa their romantic hotel night. She had been disappointed and would have said something if Kelly hadn't seemed so upset himself about the bad timing! He said that they would celebrate another time, but life and reality took over and they had never gotten around to it.

March was all about getting the wedding up and planned. She tried to be as present as she could and assist Stephanie in her Maid of Honor's duties, and even though she was exhausted, she did it with much joy and always a smile on her face.

April and spring rolled in and with it brought an anxious Emily. She and Kelly almost had no time for each other and she was concerned their relationship was going to hit rock bottom. She was erring the halls of the hospital, reading her emails on her cell phone, when she heard someone call out her name.

"Emily"?

She looked up and saw Donna sitting in a chair with baby Terrance in his cot asleep. Emily smiled.

"Hello Donna". She gave her a hug and leaned down to look at Terrance asleep smiling at angels. "He gets cuter by the minute doesn't he"?

Donna nodded.

Emily looked at her. "Everything alright"?

"Oh yeah, just have a checkup and some shots to do. Doctor is running a bit late. Why don't you sit and we can chat. It's been a while since we've seen each other".

Emily sat down next to Donna. "I'm sorry. I've just been so busy"!

She sighed and Donna felt that something was off. "Not easy huh being with a firefighter and working on your end as well"?

"Tell me about it. I have the feeling Kelly and I hardly ever see each other anymore. It's actually got me kind of worried, really. How do you and Wallace manage"?

Donna smiled and put her hand on Emily's. "It's actually easier for me. I don't work at night, so the night's Wallace doesn't work, we are together. Is there no way you can arrange for your shifts to correspond"?

"I've tried, but then something comes up and Kelly has to change shifts or I get called in when I'm not supposed to".

Donna nodded in understanding. "Well keep trying and don't worry too much, from what I hear, Kelly's raving on about you at the station, so even if you are not together, you are on his mind"!

The pediatrician's door opened and he called Donna.

Donna stood. "Look, if you ever need to talk, stop by the house or give me call, ok"?

Emily nodded. "I'll be fine don't worry". She hugged Donna and looked at the pediatrician.

"Hey George".

He smiled. "Hey Emily. Can I stop by your office later, I would need your opinion on a patient I have".

"Of course, I'm free all afternoon, stop by when you can". She caressed Terrance's little hand and walked away.

When she got to her office, she picked up her phone and dialed Kelly's number. It went to voicemail.

"Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Kelly Severide, I can't take your call right now but leave a message".

"Hi, it's me. I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you I love you. I was also thinking maybe we could take a weekend off and go somewhere, where there are no hospitals, no surgeries and no fires..let's talk about it later. I should be home a little after you get there".

Kelly jumped out of the truck just as the message came in. He had a missed call from Emily and a voicemail from her. He walked inside, phone in hand, prepared to call Emily back when the Chief intercepted him.

"Severide, in my office".

The chief had a very serious look on his face. Kelly put his phone in his pocket and walked over to the Chief's office. Inside were Detectives Voight and Lindsay.

Voight looked at Severide. "We've just received information that Keeler's men are back in the area. After his disappearance they kind of split and went different ways, however, one of our informers has told us that they have regrouped and are being led by Keeler's second, Lex Wendel. Word is out that Wendel is trying to find out who had it out for Keeler".

Severide nodded. "Right and I'm the one who had problems with him. So you think this Wendel guy is going to come after me"?

Erin looked at Severide. They had not spoken in a long long time or seen each other and she found him changed. "We're not sure, but we are keeping a close eye on him and his men, but obviously we need you to be extra careful on your end as well and alert us if anything seems unusual. Especially when you are away from here. If they do anything, it will be when and where you are the most vulnerable".

Kelly nodded in understanding. Voight and Lindsay left the office and left Kelly with the Chief.

"Are you going to tell Emily"?

"Emily and I weren't together when all of this went down, they don't know she exists. I'll tell her if I think something is going wrong. We hardly see each other for the moment, the last thing I want to do is get her worried".

Wallace looked at Severide. "How are you two doing? I'm assuming from your comment that you guys don't get to see each other a lot these days"?

He shrugged. "It's tough. We do our best to work similar shifts but then all hell breaks loose and our plans change. But the times we are together, we couldn't be happier and more in love. I just wish there were more".

Wallace nodded. "If you need to take some days off, I'll approve them".

"Thanks Chief. I'll talk to Emily about it, maybe we can get away for a long weekend".

Kelly walked out and headed out to the garage. He grabbed his phone and called Emily. He got her voicemail immediately and cursed out!

"Damn it"!

"Well there Lieutenant, it seems as though you are having a bad day.. maybe I can help"?

He turned around with a smirk on his face. Emily was leaning against the Squad 3 truck smiling at him.

He walked over to her and took her in his arms and kissed her.

"Hey Severide"…

Kelly pulled away for a brief instance. "not now Capp".

Capp turned around and went back inside. Kelly resumed kissing Emily.

"What are you doing here"?

She smiled. "I gave myself the rest of the afternoon off. I've been working my butt off all these months. I deserve a little time off. We deserve a little time off".

Jeff walked towards the firehouse when he was stopped by Erin who had been watching Kelly and Emily kissing. "Hey Jeff, got a minute"?

"Erin, hi. Yeah sure what's going on"?

"Listen Keeler's men are back in the area, we've told Kelly to watch his back but by the looks of it, there might be someone new I'm not aware of".

Jeff looked towards the firehouse and saw Kelly and Emily kissing. He smiled yet was surprised to hear a hint of jealousy in Erin's voice.

"That's Emily. She and Kelly have been together for almost a year now".

"What do you know about her"?

He frowned. "You sound like you're about to run a kind of background check on her".

"Well, I'm concerned, this girl comes out of nowhere just months after Keeler disappears...". She crossed her arms.

"Woah! Wait a minute, you've got this all wrong. That is Mouch's sister. Dr. Emily McHolland, she's a cardio-thoracic surgeon at Chicago Mercy. She lived and worked in France before but came back when Mouch had his accident. She and Kelly hooked up then. Calm your horses Erin, it's all good"!

She sighed. "Fine but tell Severide he needs to tell his girlfriend to watch her back as well". She stormed off to her car knowing for sure that if she had ever wished to have a thing with Kelly, it was never going to happen!

Kelly led Emily to the squad 3 table. "Look, I was thinking of taking a few days off and maybe we could go somewhere on a long weekend, what do you say"?

Emily looked at him. "Are you kidding? Did you listen to my voicemail"?

"No, I didn't have a chance to yet. Why"?

"Well I was proposing the same thing"!

"Great, so let's plan ourselves a romantic getaway. How about next weekend? From Friday to Sunday night, just you and me and a quiet place".

"Sounds like a good plan. Where do you want to go"?

"I'll organize everything. Let me surprise you, it's the least I can do after our failed Valentine's Day".

She kissed him. "Deal"! She stood. "I'm going to go say hi to my brother, I'll be back in a few minutes".

"I'll follow you, I need to go see what Capp needed".

They entered and walked over to the kitchen area.

"Well if it isn't Dr. McHolland"!

Randy looked up from his crosswords and smiled. Emily hugged him and sat down next to him. "Need help on the puzzle"?

"You know it"!

Kelly headed towards the dorm when Jeff stopped him. "I bumped into Erin Lindsay outside. She was asking questions about Emily".

"Why"?

"I don't know. At first she thought Emily had something to do with Keeler but I set her straight on whom Emily was. You are going to tell Emily about the fact that Keeler's men are back in town right"?

"No. Not until I feel it's really necessary. She knows the whole story, knowing what happened to Katie got her all concerned, I don't want her to worry for nothing. Besides, their being back in town probably has nothing to do with me".

"I hope you are right bro..but don't worry we've got your back"!

Kelly patted him on the arm. "Thanks, I appreciate it"!

A full week had gone by. It was Thursday midafternoon. Emily was so looking forward to their long weekend away. She had finished her shift at 2 but had stayed another hour just to make sure everything was up to date in her files for her replacement during her days off. Finally she had gotten in her car and started her drive back to the loft.

She was on Fairview Avenue and stopped at the red traffic light. There was not much traffic aside from a car behind hers and what seemed to be a garbage truck that had stopped at the other side of the interjection, must probably because the light had turned red on their side. When the light turned green, Emily slowly started the car moving when BOOM! Her entire body shifted to the right and then to the left, she hit her head against window with such force that she blacked out and became unconscious.

The guy in the truck that had hit her full force smiled. He slammed on the accelerator and pushed Emily's car across the road and into the river. It slowly started to sink.

The woman who was in the car behind Emily's got out with her phone. The man jumped out of the truck, looked at the woman and said to her "Tell Severide it's payback time"! He jumped into a van that was waiting for him and they sped off.

The woman quickly called 911.

The men were putting away the dishes when the call came in. "Ambulance 61, Squad 3, truck 81, car accident on Fairview Avenue".

"Ok let's go".

They all got in their gear and hopped in their trucks.

When they arrived on site, the woman who had called 911 was waving them down.

Severide noticed the garbage truck and walked over to the lady. "Mam are you hurt? Is anyone else in the vehicle with you"?

"It's not me. I'm fine but you've got to hurry, there's a woman in the other car".

They all looked around. "Mam, what other car"?

She pointed to the river. "The garbage truck burned the light and hit the car full force. Then he pushed it, almost intentionally into the river".

"Ok. Did someone come out of the car after it hit the water"?

"No!"

"Newhouse, Capp, get the scuba equipment ASAP".

Chief Boden arrived on the scene. "Severide, what do we have"?

"Car in the river with at least one occupant most probably blocked inside. We were here fast, there could also be an air pocket, there's hope"!

"Excuse me, what is your name"?

Kelly looked at the lady. "I'm sorry Mam, now is really not a good time".

"Severide? Is that your name? Severide"?

They all looked at her. "Yeah why"?

"Oh my God"!

"What"?

"The man that got out of the garbage truck looked at me and said..'tell Severide it's payback time'!"

Kelly's eyes widened. He looked at the river then back at the woman. "What kind of car was it"?

"I think it was a Mustang, a Ford Mustang".

Kelly took off his coat and hat quicker than anyone. He ran to the side of the river and dived in. Even if it had taken the rest of them to understand what was happening, Newhouse and Casey were following right behind him. Cruz was holding Mouch back, preventing him from going in.

"Cruz let me go, that's my sister in there"!

"Mouch, do you know how many Ford Mustangs there are out here. We don't know for sure if it's Emily".

"You heard what the lady said. Let me go"!

Boden walked up to Mouch. "Mouch, if it is Emily, there is nothing you can do. Let them get her out"!

Mouch nodded but was shaking like crazy.

Kelly arrived at the car but was running out of air. He quickly got back up to the surface took a deep breath and went back under. He arrived at the driver side and fear along with anger filled him as he saw Emily lifeless, bleeding, and trapped in her car submerged and filled with water. He knew he wouldn't be able to open the door so he broke the window just as Casey broke the one on the passenger side. Casey let himself in the car and tried to undo Emily's seatbelt but it was stuck. He motioned to Kelly to wait as he grabbed his cutter. He cut the seatbelt and they freed Emily. Kelly tried to get a hold of her but as he had dived without an oxygen tank he was short on air. Newhouse that was right behind him motioned to him to go back up and that he'd take Emily.

On the tarmac, everyone was holding their breaths. Shay and Dawson were ready and waiting with the stretcher and the material necessary.

"Oh my God… Emily! yelled Mouch as he saw Newhouse and Casey drag Emily, lifeless to the edge near stairs that led up to the street where Kelly was waiting.

Kelly took her in his arms and headed up the stairs. Mouch met him. "Emily?" They walked over to the stretcher and placed her on it. She was pale, her lips were blue.

Shay looked at Kelly. "We've got her".

Dawson took her stethoscope and listened. "No pulse. Let's get her on scope and start CPR"!

She started CPR as Shay put the scope in place. The scope showed a flat line.

"Let's intubate and shock her"!

Mouch, Kelly and the others were just standing helpless.

"Charge to 200".

The machine charged.

"Clear".

The machine shocked her.

"Still no pulse, resuming CPR".

Shay looked over at Kelly and Mouch. "Let's push epi".

Dawson grabbed the syringe and injected Emily with epi. "Charge to 300".

"Clear".

The machine shocked Emily again.

Shay checked the scope. "Still no pulse". She looked at Dawson. "Resume CPR. Come on Emily, don't do this. Hang in there. Come on"!

Dawson looked at Shay frantically. They could both feel the despair hanging in the air and all the eyes on them. "Let's give her another shot of epi".

"Dawson, we aren't allowed to without the hospitals' consent".

"Yeah well we don't have time for their consent. Let's do it".

Shay took another syringe and pushed another epi.

"Charge to 300".

"Clear"!

They looked at the scope again, flat lined.

Dawson gave Kelly a look over her shoulder. "Shay it's been 40 minutes since we got the call…I think we are too…".

Shay shook. "I can't… I can't call it"!

Dawson looked at her. "Then I will".

She stepped back. "It's over". She looked at Kelly and Mouch. "I'm sorry, there's nothing more we can do".

Mouch stayed stoic and tears started trailing down his face as Otis and Cruz held him.

Kelly shook his head 'no' as Casey held on to him.

"No!" He pushed Casey away and stepped towards the stretcher and started CPR. "Don't you dare do this to me Emily! Now come on! Fight! Fight goddamn it! Fight!"

The CPR led to him pounding on her chest as he cried tears of anger and sadness. "Don't leave me! Please?! I love you! Fight"!

Shay grabbed his hand as he went in for another pounding. "Kelly it's over. I'm sorry".

He looked at Mouch that had crumbled to the ground and was holding his head in his hands. All the energy he had simply left his body and he fell to his knees at Emily's side holding her lifeless and cold hand.

Then, there in the worst possible silence, a beep was heard. Shay looked at the scope in disbelief. Another beep. She exchanged looks with Dawson.

"Ok. Let's charge to 200". The machine seemed to take forever to charge.

Shay removed Kelly's hand from Emily's. "Clear"!

Kelly stood and looked on, in a haze.

The beeping increased and arrived at a normal rhythm.

"Ok! Let's get her in the ambulance and at Mercy ASAP"!

Kelly wiped the tears away from his eyes. "Shay? Is she going to be all right"?

"It's too soon to tell Kelly but we've got her now".

No one said a word as they lifted the stretcher in the ambulance and Shay took place in the back with Emily.

The chief looked at Kelly and Mouch. "Get in my pickup, we'll follow them to the hospital"!

They both followed the chief and got in the car. Kelly and Mouch said nothing. They were only thinking about what losing Emily would have meant to them. Kelly realized that he could lose the only woman he had ever truly loved. If she was going to pull through, he would never leave her out of her sight, he would be with her until the end of time!